LONDON - Asia's dubious human rights record plunged to new lows last year with government anti-crime drives and the US-led war o­n terror implicated in some of the worst abuses, Amnesty International said today.

Few of the region's leaderships escaped scathing criticism for their handling of the turbulent months after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks o­n the United States with Amnesty's annual report highlighting a litany of concerns.

"Human rights abuses worsened in many Asia-Pacific countries, particularly in the context of armed conflict, the 'war against terrorism' as well as 'crackdowns o­n crime'," the London-based human rights group said.

"In the name of combating 'terrorism', governments stepped up the repression of their political opponents, detained people arbitrarily, and introduced sweeping and often discriminatory laws that undermined the very foundations of human rights."

Under heavy scrutiny

The US role in detaining suspected al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan came under heavy scrutiny by Amnesty, which also rounded o­n anti-terror campaigns in Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia , Pakistan and South Korea.

"Grave human rights abuses and armed conflict continued in Afghanistan," Amnesty said, making reference to prisoners held without trial in a US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at the US-run Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

The US-backed Afghan government was also attacked for housing prisoners in apalling conditions while Pakistan authorities were criticised for handing more than 400 people into US custody "without adequate human rights safeguards".

Amnesty's report o­n 2002 accused other governments of arbitrary arrests under heavy-handed anti-terror measures, namely Bangladesh's Special Powers Act and India's Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Indian authorities also came under fire for failing to protect people in the western Indian state of Gujurat where hundreds of people were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in February 2002.

The report criticised Australia's strict detention of asylum seekers, many fleeing war in Afghanistan, which led to rioting, hunger strikes and lip-sewing protests and prompted Amnesty to call for a policy review.

Another blot

China's o­ngoing "strike hard" campaign against crime, said to have resulted in more than 1,900 death sentences and 1,060 executions following "unfair" trials marked another blot o­n Asia's human rights record.

The group condemned arbitrary arrests and anti-free speech measures in communist Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as a rising number of dissidents took to cyberspace to vent their frustrations.

"Increasing numbers were detained and held, among others in China and Vietnam, for expressing their views o­n the Internet or for downloading information critical to the governments or related to the human rights issues."

Alleged unlawful killings, "disappearances" and torture by both sides in what was the sixth year of Nepalese Maoists' anti-government "people's war" were o­nce again spotlighted.

And concerns were renewed over "gross human rights violations against women" in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and other countries.

In Sri Lanka, Amnesty reported a breakthrough following a ceasefire and peace talks between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland.

Optimism was also expressed over democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest by the Burmese military junta, although the report noted "no progress in confidential talks about the future of the country". - AFP